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Determinants of Debt Concentration at the State Level
Author(s) -
Greer Robert A.,
Denison Dwight V.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
public budgeting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.694
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1540-5850
pISSN - 0275-1100
DOI - 10.1111/pbaf.12118
Subject(s) - debt , state (computer science) , economics , politics , per capita , distribution (mathematics) , unemployment , government debt , fiscal federalism , monetary economics , debt to gdp ratio , government (linguistics) , ideology , internal debt , macroeconomics , political science , market economy , demography , mathematics , algorithm , decentralization , mathematical analysis , population , linguistics , philosophy , sociology , computer science , law
We examine the general factors that affect the distribution of debt among state and local governments. We measure the distribution as the percentage of total state and aggregate local debt that is issued or held by the state level of government. Using a fiscal federalism framework, we discuss the fiscal, legal, and political factors that play an important role in determining the level of government that issues debt. Findings suggest that important factors of debt concentration at the state level include state political ideology and economic factors of income per capita and unemployment rates.